About 1 million Americans are facing a massive mid-Atlantic winter storm Monday that cancelled 2,000 flights and prompted New Jersey to declare a state of emergency.

On Sunday, freezing rain and heavy snow pelted many central and eastern states. Crews struggled to de-ice planes at airports and clear roads.

In Oklahoma, lightning and hail caused a 40-car pile-up in Oklahoma City.

"This car over here, it was just sliding," Oklahoma driver Kristyn Meadows recalled. "They asked if I could reverse. I couldn't even reverse 'cause if I reversed then I'd hit this car in front of me."

"I threw it in four-wheel drive and even with four-wheel drive I started spinning," another driver, Jeff Deal, said.

In Missoula, Mont., a massive avalanche over the weekend buried three people. A town-wide search and rescue went to work and found all three, alive.

"He just said, 'There's an 8-year-old buried underneath the snow. There was an avalanche, grab a shovel,'" one girl recalled.

Forecasters say the latest blast of winter will hit the mid-Atlantic with anywhere from six to 12 inches of snow.

Cities have tried to prepare for the storm.

Baltimore brought in 20,000 tons of salt, and the power company warned customers to brace for outages.

"Ice is really the most detrimental to our electric system and so we have increased crews stationed across the entire service territory," Rachael Lightly, a spokesperson for Baltimore Gas and Electric, said.

Thousands in Arkansas and Tennessee are already without power and school children in multiple states from Texas to Pennsylvania will stay home, all thanks to the latest winter weather.